I Survived the 8-Day Passover Challenge and Here’s What I Learned

About three weeks ago, my friends and I were talking about Passover and we were discussing how difficult it was to keep Passover. I decided that it wouldn’t be that difficult and I bet my friends that I could keep strict Passover. So, two weeks ago I started what we are now calling “the eight-day Passover challenge.” I started at sundown on Monday, April 10th and ended at sundown on April 18th. I’d like to clarify that I didn’t celebrate the spiritual part of Passover and in no way want to offend anyone who keeps Passover as apart of a religious tradition.

This is a list of the food restrictions for Passover:

Certain meats may not be eaten. Forbidden meats include (but are not limited to): pork, shellfish, lobster, shrimp, crab, rabbit, and seafood without fins or scales (like swordfish and sturgeon). Any products made with ingredients from these meats (example—pig ingredients in non-kosher gelatin) cannot be used.

Meat must not be eaten in combination with dairy.

Fish and eggs are considered neutral. They can be served with dairy or with meat.

Chametz (wheat, oats, rye, barley, spelt) cannot be eaten if they’ve had contact with water/moisture for longer than 18 minutes, which leads to rising or “leavening.” Leavening agents, like yeast and sourdough, are also considered chametz.

I kept a strict log of all of the food I ate and a journal entry each day:

Final Reflection:
Passover was incredibly difficult. I was completely wrong. I couldn’t eat any bread or basically anything because everything has corn syrup. It definitely gave me an appreciation for those who do celebrate Passover. On the positive side, I lost four pounds, which probably shows how bad gluten is for you.